lizanneyoung's reviews
321 reviews

Thank you Pen Pal PR for the eARC and chance to read!
 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES

🥅 Opposites Attract

🥅 Accidental Roommates

🥅 Only One Bed

🥅 Hockey Romance

🥅 Dual POV

Part of what made me want to read this book was that the FMC Cammie writes Lord of the Rings fan fiction. Do I read LOTR fanfiction? No. Have I ever read LOTR or watched the movies? Also no. But, the premise sounded awesome as a girl who does read HP fanfiction.

Chase and Cammie are so fun together. Chase is obsessed and Cammie is secretly obsessed, so when a rooming mistake brings them together, it’s exactly what they both need. He is immediately super supportive of her fan fiction writing, even wanting to read it and understand it more, which is cool. She does her best to fit in at hockey events, and while mean girls make it difficult, Cammie finds her place and shuts down the people who make her uncomfortable. Chase also does his best to shield her from it, but he also recognizes she can fight her own battles, which is incredibly refreshing. 

The writing style immediately sucked me in. This is my first read from the author, and I will have to read more. I read this almost entirely in one sitting, and that is entirely because I enjoyed the writing style and the story being told. 

I need to see Brody’s story next. If it’s already out there, I will find it, but if it isn’t, I’m begging the author to please write about him next.  

 

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Bracken Creek Wolves series is hands down my favorite I read this year, so when I discovered this winter novella, I had to read it before the end of the year.

I love getting to see a glimpse into the future for several background characters we met in the series. Seeing them as adults, finding their place in the pack and in life, was the perfect seasonal read for me, especially because it has happy endings all around. It also provided a great way to see how the dynamics are between packs in the years after the events of the series. 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story scratched an itch in my brain I didn’t know was there. I had an inkling, based on the blurb, where the story could go, but I could not have predicted exactly where, and I love it. That epilogue really drives it home in the best way, too.

Alette was great to be in the mind of, and I loved watching her calculate the best course of action to achieve her goal. She’s playing chess and is constantly rethinking her strategy, which was awesome to read. Even when you think she may have forgotten what her end goal is, she reminds you it was always on her mind. I’d love to read more about her next journey. 

 

 

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TROPES

🏄 Instant Attraction

🏄 Forced Proximity

🏄 Slow Burn

🏄 “Friends” to Lovers

🏄 No 3rd Act Break Up

🏄 Dual POV

I love Joss and Wes’s story. From meeting on a flight to the frequent run-ins that prove the universe is on their side, you can’t help but root for them. It went from “Will they meet again?” to “How much longer until they take a chance?” very quickly, and it was great to read. Despite their seemingly contradictory views on relationships, they complement each other well and provide exactly what the other person needs. Because their journey comes from both perspectives, it reinforces the constant push and pull between them and that they were inevitable in both their eyes. 

I particularly enjoyed the storyline between Joss and her mother. As someone who is estranged from my mother, it was nice to see something similar reflected in a book. We have incredibly different reasons for our choices, but seeing someone else stand their ground and remain firm in their boundary is so encouraging to me. Sometimes you question if you’ve made the right decision, or if time has changed something, but Joss’s story reinforced to me that I made a strong choice and nothing has to change that. 

I wasn’t quite sure where the last few chapters were going, since we had what felt like an “established” endpoint as a romance book, but we needed them to set up the next. I’m glad that plot development came here rather than at the start of the second book. It felt like a nice bow on our time in Australia. 

 

 

⭐⭐⭐

Evie and Nate were childhood best friends, but things changed after they went to prom together and then Nate left town for the next decade the next day. This is a quick read as they reconnect when he does finally reappear in their small town, only because he’s there to help his father. The community pushes the two together by voluntolding them both to help with the Christmas cookie contest, which forces interactions in a predictable way.

Though the story is told from both perspectives, I wish it had been told only through Evie. The growth that was set up for her in the first chapter didn’t go anywhere, which was a bummer to me. I enjoyed the story and seeing her reconnect with someone that means a lot to her, but I was hopeful she would have some growth and put some boundaries down with the people around her.

 

 

⭐⭐⭐💫

RAT picks up right where BEAR ended, which is great. As novella-length stories, I wasn’t sure what to expect as the series continued, or how far into the future it might go, so I’m glad no time is lost so far. The second installment provides a closer look at the intricacies of the system and how it continues to affect not just the brothers but others, even when they denounce it.

This one definitely gave me 1984 vibes. It continues to reinforce the police-like state of the society, even when Benji thinks they are on the cusp of escaping it. Learning more about the other sects of people with similar goals to Benji but their own plans, it shows just how long people have been trying to defy the government, and maybe even the investment that’s in store for the brothers. Will they be able to enact change in a shorter time period? I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out.

 

Thank you to Wattpad for the eARC!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

TROPES
⛰️ Fated Mates
⛰️ Dual POV

This is the third book in the Enchanted Fates series. I have not read the first two, mostly because I didn’t realize this was part of a series when I started reading, but I wasn’t lost or anything, so I would say you can read this as a standalone if you wanted to.

I particularly enjoyed how magic and werewolves came together in this story. There’s a great redemption storyline for Dom and the other wolves returning to the Moonpeak pack after a decade away, and I like that it was ultimately rooted in wanting to do better for their loved ones and the people of the pack, rather than a misguided attempt to be in a power position. The plan was reasonable while also recognizing the urgency of the problem, and I like how it all came together.

I was hopeful in my predictions of what would happen between the two main characters June and Dom, and I’m thrilled I was correct. I want to see more of their story now that everything with the pack is settled, so I’m crossing my fingers that they somehow come up in the next installment of the series. Also hoping to see some other characters again, because I feel like their story isn’t done yet. 

I am definitely thinking twice before burning a candle right now. Once you read, you will know. 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

TROPES

🌼 Loathe to Love

🌼 Best Friend’s Brother

🌼 Forced Proximity

🌼 Dual POV

I’ve been waiting for the time Teddy and Gus would get to shine, and it did not disappoint. Everything about their story was exactly what I was hoping it would be. The banter was on point, and it was nice to see it on full display. 

I will always love everything about Teddy. She’s spunky and lets herself shine in a way I aspire to be. I think her feeling of waywardness makes sense, especially as she tries to figure out her next move. I think it’s hard when it feels like your friends are “ahead” of you in life, and I know I’ve been struggling a lot recently with feeling like I haven’t hit enough “adult” milestones. It was nice to see that in Teddy and feel like I wasn’t alone.

It was wonderful to watch Gus realize he can have everything he wants and care the way he does while having someone who will do that for him. While it is in the person he least expected, it really opened up a part of him we haven’t seen in the previous two books. I can’t wait to continue to see it in the next installment of Rebel Blue.

 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This Amazon Original Story is the best of two worlds for me: romance and mystery. I grew up going to Blockbuster, so I love that the story centers around the owner and patrons of a rental store. The mystery had me thinking there was something more sinister a foot, like in the realm of a movie where someone is living in the attic of another’s home, but I’m glad that wasn’t the case.

Audrey is a great character who I’d love to read more about. She has no qualms about doing a wellness check on an older man, even when that means breaking into his home. And, she seems to overthink little interactions just like I do, so it was nice to feel a bit validated in that way.

 

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This webtoon collection is the cutest thing! I've been wanting to get into webtoons, and one about a young witch accidentally turning a vampire into a cat was definitely the way to go for me.

Everything from the art style to the set up caused me to read this in one sitting. The stakes are immediately set as the reader is dropped into a long-standing feud between witches and vampires. It looks like things are going to get worse before they get better, especially when Morgana, a young witch that doesn’t have great control over her magic, accidentally turns one of the vampires into a cat. This volume ends on a cliffhanger that has me excited to read the next one. Will Oz be human again anytime soon? How will that change the dynamic between the two teens? 

Thank you to Wattpad for the gifted copy!